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Surrey's street lights switch-off

The figures were obtained from Surrey Police under the Freedom of Information Act by Warlingham resident John Lazenby, who has been leading on a campaign to persuade Surrey County Council to turn the street lights back on.

The statistics show crime in Epsom & Ewell between midnight and 5am from March to July 2017 increased by 40% compared with the previous year, while overall crime in the borough was up by 33%.

In Mole Valley and Reigate & Banstead, after-dark crime increased by 34% and 37% respectively, while overall crime rose by just 19% and 20% respectively.

However, this pattern was not repeated anywhere else in the county.

For the whole of Surrey, crime between midnight and 5am increased by 22% compared with March-July 2016, while overall crime was up by 26%.

Most of the increase - around 88% - was from crimes that occurred either during daylight or while the street lights were still on.

Surrey County Council approved plans to turn off street lights between midnight and 5am in October 2016 in order to save an estimated £210,000 per year.

A county council spokesman said: "Due to the ever-increasing demand for our services, coupled with a reduction in government funding, we made the tough decision to turn off street lights in quiet areas with low amounts of traffic in the early hours.

"We worked with Surrey Police on this and kept on lights in areas where concerns were raised to help ensure that our residents' safety is not compromised."